


Holding on Tight, Sleeping at Night

by dannihowell (iguessicantry)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 15:31:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7624129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iguessicantry/pseuds/dannihowell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a long day at the zoo, the Howell-Lester kids are a little cranky.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Holding on Tight, Sleeping at Night

“Doggie?”

“Baby wolf.”

“Woof?”

“Wolf? Can you say that?”

Delia tried her hardest to make the sounds with her mouth. “Wolf!”

“Yes,” Phil praised her. “It’s like a dog, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

The tiny girl laid her head on her papa’s shoulder, feeling the fatigue set in her body. They had been at the zoo all day and even though she had taken a 20-minute nap in her pram, the two and a half year old was still exhausted by dinner time.

“Are you tired, Dee?” her Dad asked, rubbing her back gently. Delia nodded with a slight pout. Her older brother, Winston, was still engrossed in the animals behind the fencing.

“Come on, Win!” Dan called. “It’s time to go.”

“But I want to stay, Daddy!”

“I know but Dee’s getting tired and we’ve got to get ready for school tomorrow.”

Winnie stomped his foot and furrowed his brow. The frown on his face looked odd on his usually pleasant features.

“Don’t you dare start,” Phil warned him. Whenever Winnie didn’t get what he wanted, especially for Delia’s sake, he could throw the worst tantrums. Both Dan and Phil agreed that they had to be stopped in their tracks.

“But Papa!”

“Come here,” Dan told him. “Take my hand and don’t let go.”

Winnie did as he was told. Even as the family began walking back towards their van, Winnie kept his gaze towards the animals, all of which had fascinated him.

“It’s not fair. I wish I didn’t have a baby sister,” he thought to himself.

—-

Dee fell asleep during the walk back to the car. Winnie kept glaring at her and out the window the entire way home. Dan and Phil hadn’t noticed as they had been discussing the trip they were taking during the next week and plans for childcare.

When they got home, hands were washed and dinner was prepared. Winnie had been happy to find out that his parents had planned to make breakfast for dinner, a rare treat. That had been able to get him out of his mood. Delia was fussy but willing to have a bit of pancake. She demanded strawberries on hers. Winnie wanted blueberries, which he had had at a friend’s house once. He pulled on Dan’s shirt asking him if he could have some.

Phil shook his head. “Dee’s really allergic to blueberries remember. We don’t even buy them just in case it gets on her plate. Strawberries taste just as nice.”

The five-year-old boy didn’t think that was true at all. But, Dee always wins. Again, he thought, “I wish I didn’t have a sister.”

Their dog, Neko, nuzzled Winnie’s hand, distracting the boy until dinner was ready.

Papa was right though. The strawberry topped pancakes were very yummy especially with a side of eggs and a bit of bacon, Winnie’s favorite. Winnie’s mood had started to rise again, happily enjoying his dinner when Dee spilled her juice and began wailing out of frustration. Dan picked her up and calmed her as Phil set up about cleaning the mess. In moments, the wailing cease, only to be replaced by soft shushing and the little girl’s calm even breathing.

Winnie finished his dinner with a frown because he had been in the middle of a really great story about the lions he saw earlier that day when Dee interrupted him.

When all the commotion had died down and dishes placed in the dishwasher, Winnie went to the lounge to play with Neko. The dog only wanted a belly rub so Winnie indulged him. Dan came in not long after.

“Win, what’s wrong? Didn’t you like dinner?”

“Yeah, until Dee ruined everything. She ruins everything.”

“Oh, that’s quite an accusation.”

“What’s an accusation?” Winnie asked sulkily.

“Come here and I’ll tell you,” Dan pat his knee, inviting Winnie to sit on his lap. His son always found it comforting to lay his head on his father’s chest when he was upset. “An accusation is blaming someone for something. You blame your sister for everything that goes wrong. I don’t think that’s fair to her.”

Winnie didn’t want to explain this anymore. Dee always ruins everything. “She’s always crying and whining.”

“So do you.”

“She’s too little to do a lot and that means I can’t do it either.”

“Like what?”

“Stay at the zoo longer.”

“Well, like we told you, there’s still a lot to do before school tomorrow like make dinner, your lunches, finish laundry… Even if you and dee were adults, we would still have to leave the zoo early.”

“And I couldn’t have blueberries today.”

“We don’t have any in the house so you wouldn’t have gotten them anyway.”

Winnie sat up and looked his father in the eye. “Dee gets what she wants and I don’t.”

“Whose idea was it to spend the day at the zoo?” Dan asked him.

Winnie’s eyes shifted downwards. “Mine.”

“And who got to go to gymnastics last week?”

“Me.”

“And who got the new video game for their birthday?”

“Me.”

Winnie added, “You tricked me.”

“No. I’m just showing you that you get a lot. Today seems like a bad day but you can’t blame your sister for everything. Okay?”

“Fine.”

Winnie stayed like that, with his head on his father’s chest, until he too succumbs to sleep. Phil entered the lounge with a tuckered out Dee on his arms just as Dan was getting ready to put Winnie in bed. “I’ll tuck him in,” Phil offered.

“Careful, he’s a bit cranky today.”

“I noticed,” Phil chuckled softly.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr  
> [dannihowell](https://danni-howell.tumblr.com/)


End file.
